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Philip B. Elfstrom
Stadium /
Kane County Cougars
Philip B. Elfstrom Stadium is only 13 years old, but it feels much older. Built before advanced ballpark design reached the minor leagues, Elfstrom Stadium is a pedestrian ballpark with some nice touches, but really adds nothing to the game-day experience for the advanced or casual baseball fan. The ballpark's bowl is below ground level, which makes a nice experience when you walk into the ballpark in a relatively remote entrance down the right-field line. A concourse winds from this entrance to the back of the grandstand seating and down the third-base line to a deck (which sits where bleachers were formerly located). Along that concourse there are six concession areas, so you're never too far away from a hot dog or beer. As you can tell from the above photo, virtually everything at the ballpark is out in the open: except for a small souvenir shop and the restrooms, all the fan areas are open to the elements. That means you should bring your sunscreen on a sunny day and your umbrella on a cloudy place, because there's no enclosed area to hide from the elements.
Between the concourse and the seats there is a small building featuring a press box and two suites.
Elfstrom Stadium does sprawl, but in a good way. There are group picnic areas in both outfields (the right-field picnic areas are shown above, while the left-field area is shown below). They both feature some outstanding views of the action; it's a shame that one of the areas isn't open to the general public instead of being restricted to groups or closed.
In addition, there's a group tent area down the third-base line and a large picnic area beyond the right-field group area, which also features a kids' area. Overall, the seating situation is not great. There are only nine rows of theater-style seating, while the remaining 14 rows are metal backed seats. On a hot day, these metal seats can be very uncomfortable, to say the least. One plus to attending an evening game: chances are pretty good you'll see a fireworks display. In 2004 the team had fireworks after 28 games.
In the end, Elfstrom Stadium is a relatively comfortable ballpark for a Kane County Cougars fan. But there's little noteworthy about it for the ballpark aficionado, and its relatively remote location (45 minutes outside of Chicago's Loop) makes it hardly worth the effort to the baseball enthusiast visiting Chicago.
Concessions For starters, there's the standard ballpark fare: Armour hot dogs (regular and foot long), Chicago red hots, Angus burgers and cheeseburgers, brats, chicken tenders, corn dogs, funnel cakes and grilled chicken sandwiches. Papa Murphy's pizza and nachos. Then there are the more exotic offerings: BBQ pulled-pork sandwich, BBQ pork-chop sandwich, rib-eye steak sandwich, churros, Philly cheesesteak sandwich, turkey legs, roasted sweet corn (offered seasonally), carver sandwiches and Papa Charlie's Italian beef sandwiches. Not all of these foods are offered during every game (many of the exotic offerings are from the Hot Corner area down the third-base line, but the grill was closed during my visit), but almost all will be available during a well-attended game. On the liquid side, there's a wide variety of beers: Two Brothers (a local brewpub), Goose Island (Honker and Summertime), Leinenkugel (Honey Weiss and Red), Labatt Blue, Amstel Light, Bud and Bud Light, Miller (Genuine Draft, Lite and Icehouse), and Michelob Ultra for the carb-conscious. There's also a wide selection of pops (all from Pepsi), fresh-brewed ice tea, lemonade, Caribou coffee, Icees and more. For those with a sweet tooth there's a wide range of cold treats (Sno Kones, Dippin' Dots, ice-cream bars, Edy's soft-serve ice cream, Maui Wowi smoothies and Oberweis ice-cream cups) and candies. And, of course, there's a mandatory Cracker Jack. All in all there are four concession stands, two sweets stands, and two outdoor grill areas lining the outer concourse. Add to that the three group areas, the tent areas and a separate concession trailer next to the KidZone, and you've got a lot of square footage at the park generating significant income from concessions. This wide selection leads one to an inescapable conclusion about Elfstrom Stadium and the Cougars: that the ballgame is just an excuse to keep you entertained while you peruse the food court. Out of the ballparks we've visited, only CanWest Global Park and the Winnipeg Goldeyes put more of an emphasis on food on the minor-league level.
For
the Kids In addition, kids can burn off some energy playing on the first-base or third-base berms. Or the kids can follow around the team's relatively animated mascot.
Parking
Before/After the Game Since you're not in the perfect environment, you don't want to spend a lot of time either before or after the game in the general vicinity. Instead, you should head west to downtown Geneva, where over 100 merchants have set up shop in a quaint, downtown environment. Downtown St. Charles is actually closer and features its own set of unique locally owned businesses, such as Prairie Gourmet, as well as Century Corners, a group of storefronts housed in Victorian buildings. The County House is located south of the ballpark on Kirk Road. It's won a slew of awards for its burger, including the coveted "Best Burger in Chicago Award" from the Chicago Tribune. The rest of the menu is roadhouse fare: ribs, steaks and more.
Where to Stay Other hotels within three miles of the ballpark -- and thus requiring a drive -- are Best Western Inn of St. Charles, Holiday Inn St. Charles, Country Inn St. Charles and the Hotel Baker in downtown St. Charles. |
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